


The Order of the Phoenix

by JynErsoinNYC



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comedy - hopefully, F/M, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Freeform, I know I know it ain't a big ship, Lunarry, Minor Cho Chang/Harry Potter, References to Depression, Romance, Takes place during the fifth book/movie, but it still sails
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22169092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JynErsoinNYC/pseuds/JynErsoinNYC
Summary: Anna knew who he was. Two years ago his face had been in every newspaper, on every bulletin board in the Ministry of Magic and Diagon Alley, snarling at the reader.Sirius Black.Innocent of the crimes of betraying James and Lily Potter to Voldemort, and killing twelve Muggles. Now in hiding from the magical world, confined to this safe house, waiting for his name to be cleared. Anna had her doubts it ever would be, especially after being used as a scapegoat by the Ministry for the numerous disappearances in recent months.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom/Ginny Weasley, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. October 4th, 1995

A loud crack split the silent evening.

Anna Ravenshire gazed around the dark woods. In the near distance, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry perched on the forested hillside; its many windows glowing in the dusk, reflections glittering on the surface of the Black Lake.

She began her trek up to the castle. She could have Apparated into Hogsmeade Village and taken a carriage – it certainly would have been smoother sailing, especially with the books she was carrying – but she was pressed for time and did not wish to draw attention to herself.

_An Auror, at Hogwarts?_

Fudge would not approve.

The walk up through the woods, past the gamekeeper’s house and across the Wooden Bridge took longer than she remembered it. Then again, Anna had never worn heeled boots as a student. By the time she crossed the courtyard and entered the castle gates, dinner was underway in the Great Hall and the smell of roast lamb wafted through the open doors, knotting her empty stomach.

After glancing into the noisy, brightly-lit room to see if she might spot him at the staff table, Anna turned and headed towards Albus Dumbledore's office. Thankfully, those who weren’t at dinner payed her no attention as she strode up the shifting stairs and down the familiar corridors. Maybe they thought she was another student in her dark robes, with a stack of old books shoved beneath her arm.

In fact, Anna had graduated from Hogwarts over seven years ago.

Ravenclaw Tower called to her as she passed its arched entrance, and she desperately wanted to answer. Was it still the same? Light and airy and…blue. There was no time to linger and find out, nor seek after her young cousin currently attending the school.

Anna turned down Gargoyle Corridor on the third floor and made for the looming statue at the end. "Liquorice Snaps," she muttered to the gargoyle, and the stone stairs carried her up to the landing outside Dumbledore's office. She knocked thrice on the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore’s sage voice replied promptly, louder than it ought to be travelling through the heavy wood. Voice amplification, most likely.

Anna pressed in and closed the door behind her. She looked around. The office was the same as she remembered. Circular, the walls lined with old portraits of past headmasters. The main foyer – filled with its cabinets and mysterious, shiny trinkets – was currently dark, but a lamp was glowing in the smaller room behind it. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, pouring a cup of tea. Fawkes was perched on the high back of his seat.

"Ah, Miss Ravenshire, what a surprise," Dumbledore smiled, though it lacked its usual cheeriness.

Anna knew that current times at Hogwarts were tense. 

"I was just having a spot of supper," Dumbledore continued, waving to a silver tea tray. "Would you care to join me?" 

Anna approached the desk, her boots clicking sharply on the stone floor. "I'm sorry for intruding, professor. I need to speak with you urgently." 

Dumbledore gestured for her to sit. She did, and the seat was more comfortable than its leather exterior would suggest. A few of the portraits on the walls were snoozing, others were empty altogether. 

"I see you've brought me a gift," Dumbledore said, putting down his tea cup and peering over his spectacles at the books Anna was placing on the desk. 

"Only if you want to read Constellier's Five Volumes on the Subtle Art of Divination," Anna patted the stack of tomes. "I'm returning them to Professor Trelawny. It was the only way I could get permission from the Ministry to visit Hogwarts." 

Dumbledore fixed Anna with a keen stare. "Cornelius wouldn't be worried about insubordination, now would he?" 

Anna sighed. "Fudge is worried about everything, these days. The Aurors' loyalty ranks just below his own credibility."

Dumbledore chuckled to himself. "You didn't let charming Professor Umbridge see you?" 

“No. But I thought I smelt her perfume lingering around the Greenhouses on the way up. Is she meddling where she shouldn't be?" 

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat. "If it keeps Dolores happy, Hogwarts can tolerate a bit of meddling." 

A few musical notes came from Fawkes, as though the phoenix was agreeing.

"What is this urgent matter you speak of?" Dumbledore asked, reaching up to stroke the bird’s golden feathers.

Anna took a breath. "It's about Julius Oliverston. He's going to reveal the location of the Order to Fudge." 

Dumbledore lowered his hand, a stern frown hardening his wizened brow. "And how do you know this?"

Anna reached into her robes and retrieved a creased piece of plum-coloured parchment. She handed it across the desk to Dumbledore. "When we met to exchange information this week, I could tell he was worried, nervous. And I could sense an impending betrayal in his aura." 

Dumbledore frowned. Anna knew that he had never considered divination to be a particularly credible form of magic, but she had always had a penchant for it.

"So, yesterday at the Ministry I intercepted Oliverston's memo to Fudge, and as you can see..."

Anna let Dumbledore read the message.

"I do see," he said solemnly when he finished. He placed the letter before him.

Anna watched a sadness bloom in Dumbledore's blue eyes. Oliverston had been a member of the Order of the Phoenix since its origins, and she would have bet any number of galleons on the current political climate being the cause for his change of heart.

Anna continued carefully. "He's meeting Fudge tomorrow, and I had to tell you before I did something to try and stop it."

"And I thank you," Dumbledore replied. "Because I know for a fact that Oliverston is currently at a meeting at headquarters."

"What should be done?" Anna asked carefully.

Dumbledore thought quietly for a minute. Fawkes sung another few notes, but they seemed melancholy now.

"Have you yet been to headquarters?" Dumbledore asked eventually.

"Not since it’s moved to Grimmauld Place."

Dumbledore raised his brows at her. “That’s been almost a year.”

Anna raised a brow of her own. “And you’re implying…”

He chuckled. "Nothing at all, but I'm going to send you there now via Floo, and I would be grateful if you would send back Oliverston. Tell him I wish to speak with him."

"Wont that seem suspicious?" Anna asked.

Dumbledore considered. "Perhaps send one of the others with him...Shacklebolt, or Diggle."

Anna nodded. "I can do that, but is Floo the way to go? The Ministry is keeping them under tabs. They'll know I was in your office."

"Alas," Dumbledore replied, "mine is not traceable."

_Yet_ , Anna thought.

"In the meantime, continue your Auror duties for the Ministry," Dumbledore said.

Anna would be. She was working on a particularly tough case at the moment, keeping her so busy she'd barely had the spare time to come to Hogwarts in person. But meeting face-to-face was safer than sending messages, these days.

"And feel free to visit for a cup of tea whenever you like," Dumbledore continued. "Perhaps via headquarters' Floo. I'm sure Sirius will oblige. Simpler than having to keep borrowing books."

Anna smiled. "Of course, though I wouldn't stop by without information. I imagine you're too busy for social calls."

Dumbledore stood from his seat. "Miss Ravenshire, no matter how busy a person is, if they are a true friend then they will always have the time for you. And I happen to dearly enjoy social calls. A good excuse to break out the shortbread."

Anna would have smiled, but the way Dumbledore said it made it sound like he didn't fully believe his own words. She followed him to his fireplace across the room. Floo was not her favourite way to travel – her stomach didn’t care for it, and the ash always blemished her fair skin – but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Give my best to the Order," Dumbledore farewelled. "And tell Molly not to worry too much."

Anna nodded and stepped into the fireplace, _12 Grimmauld Place_ on her lips. She vanished in a whirl of green flame.

~~O~~

"Goodness!" cried a startled Molly Weasley.

Anna gained her balance by gripping the edges of the fireplace. She had emerged from the Floo network at the end of a long, narrow kitchen, stuffed to its stone walls with a wooden table and various mismatched seats.

Occupying those seats were some twenty members of the Order, all surprised to see her breathing heavily in the fireplace. Anna immediately spotted Oliverston sitting halfway down the table between a grim Alastor Moody and a pink-haired Nymphadora Tonks.

"Oh, Anna, it's you," Molly recognised her, catching her breath. She had been sitting nearest the fireplace and had leapt out of her chair. She now stood with a hand pressed to her heart.

"Sorry, Molly," Anna greeted her, stepping out of the fireplace a bit wobblily.

"Not to worry, dear," Molly chuckled heartily, coming forward to brush soot off Anna's robes. 

The unfamiliar kitchen was warm, and smelt like butterbeer and burnt toast. Anna suspected Tonks must have gotten to the blackened loaf of bread sitting on the sideboard before Molly could. Bottles and plates were scattered along the table, and a steaming cauldron sat on a burner at the end.

"Dumbledore sent you, did he?" Arthur Weasley asked cheerily from his place next to a good-looking young man with red hair – most likely one of his older sons.

"He did," Anna sought out Shacklebolt, whose long robes were an outlandish shade of royal purple. "Dumbledore wishes to see you, Kingsley. Julius, you too."

Oliverston straightened in his seat, looking very unkempt, circles beneath his eyes. "Dumbledore wants to see me?"

Molly finished brushing Anna down and ushered her to sit, but Anna remained standing.

"It's quite urgent," she continued to Shacklebolt. "He's waiting."

"Of course," Shacklebolt replied in his deep voice. "Did he say what was wrong?"

Oliverston was looking nervous, fiddling with a butterbeer cork.

"No, he did not," Anna said, but she gave a subtle glance towards Oliverston. _It concerns him._

If Shacklebolt caught on, he didn't show it. Everyone else at the table waited silently.

"We'll go now," Shacklebolt stood up from the table and pulled on his matching purple hat. "Come, Julius."

Oliverston followed, looking rather reluctant, squeezing past Alastor and Lupin to get to the fireplace. They disappeared together in the green flame.

Anna let out a breath, the lingering taste of smoke in her mouth. She sat down in the chair Molly had offered, reaching up to pat down a stray strand of her ebony-tinted hair.

"Everything okay, Anna?" Tonks asked into the following quiet.

Anna could see they were all waiting for a proper explanation. She looked around, meeting several of the curious gazes upon her.

_Here it goes._

"Oliverston was ready to expose the Order to the Ministry,” she announced. “Tomorrow, in fact."

Everyone went rigid and opened their mouths, but Anna continued.

"I intercepted a message of his to Fudge. It said he had information on Dumbledore's secret society he wanted to divulge – for a reward."

Molly gasped.

"Are you certain?" Alastor growled immediately. 

Anna nodded. "Yes. I’ve just informed Dumbledore."

Molly sank into a chair, and there were more displays of disbelief – the shaking of heads, a muttered _"impossible"._

"I can't believe it," Lupin spoke up, his voice hoarse from the many nights he spent howling as a werewolf. "Oliverston's been a loyal member of the Order for over twenty years."

The dark-haired man that was lounging across from Lupin scoffed loudly, silencing everyone else at the table, and Anna got the sense he had a certain scepticism when it came to loyalty.

"Come now, Remus,” he said. “Oliverston was cowering all evening. I would have confronted him myself if Miss..."

"Ravenshire," Molly muttered absently.

"If Miss Ravenshire hadn't arrived," he finished.

Anna knew who he was. Two years ago, his face had been in every newspaper, on every bulletin board in the Ministry of Magic and Diagon Alley, snarling at the reader.

Sirius Black.

Innocent of the crimes of betraying James and Lily Potter to Voldemort, and killing twelve Muggles. Now in hiding from the magical world, confined to this safe house, waiting for his name to be cleared. Anna had her doubts it ever would be, especially after being used as a scapegoat by the Ministry for the numerous disappearances in recent months.

"Oliverston _was_ acting strangely," Tonks agreed with Black, looking around at Lupin. Her hair had darkened to a magenta.

Alastor didn't look convinced. He continued to stare at Anna with his magical eye. "And you just thought to go through his messages, did you?"

"Alastor," Molly scowled.

Anna barely restrained an eyeroll. Typical Mad-Eye. "I got a feel of his aura, and it wasn't particularly honourable, so I did some investigating. You know... _my job_."

Alastor growled something to himself.

"What was that?" Tonks asked pointedly, leaning an arm on the table and raising a sharp eyebrow at him. 

Anna smirked.

"Reading auras and... _vibes_...I wouldn't trust Ravenshire and her divination," Alastor said.

Anna's smile disappeared. "Go and see Dumbledore if you must, Moody. I left Oliverston's letter with him. But I thought you would trust me after all these years."

Alastor didn't reply, just growled some more. Everyone seemed a bit uncomfortable now, many still shocked into silence.

"I should be going," Anna stated shortly, standing from her seat.

Molly rose too. "Now, now, Anna. It's late. Wont you stay the night?"

Anna shook her head. "I've a job to do."

Several members of the Order mumbled brief goodbyes. Arthur Weasley leaned in to talk with Lupin and Black.

Molly led Anna out into a dark hallway even narrower than the kitchen, and Tonks followed behind them, tripping through the doorway.

"This is headquarters now?" Anna muttered to Tonks, looking around. A black wood staircase loomed beside her, rising up indeterminable storeys. Faded portraits lined the walls, several of them covered with dusty sheets.

Tonks smirked. "Lavish, isn't it?”

Anna let out a dark laugh.

"It just needs a good renovation, I keep telling Sirius," Molly said, patting a bit of decaying wallpaper.

At the front door, Anna was given the password that would let her enter 12 Grimmauld Place if she ever needed a safe house.

"But it changes often," Tonks told her. "So don't be a stranger. We're all here a lot of the evenings."

"Sure. Are you working the Helvar case?"

Tonks shook her head, her hair randomly turning violet. "No. I'm technically on Gregarious', though I think Scrimgeour is getting suspicious of where I get to most days."

Tonks had always spent more time on direct missions for the Order, whereas Anna tried to assist them while working from within the Ministry. She had known Tonks at Hogwarts, a Hufflepuff one year her junior. They hadn’t been best friends, but were always civil, and since then they had both become Aurors.

"Well, I might see you around the Ministry," Anna said.

"Or here," Tonks reiterated.

Molly gave Anna a firm hug, even though they weren’t that well acquainted. That was just who Mrs Weasley was.

Anna felt the familiar swell of sadness, but pushed away the memory of another person like Molly Weasley that she had known.

_Not now._

"I'm sorry you had to find out about Oliverston," Molly said sadly, squeezing Anna's arms.

"Well, it's a good thing I did or otherwise this place would have been stormed tomorrow."

"And Sirius would be back in Azkaban," Tonks added. She fiddled with the cuff of her fingerless glove. “I wonder what Dumbledore will do?”

“Convince the poor man to change his mind,” Molly said with somewhat forced assuredness. “Nothing else he can do.”

Anna turned to leave. Outside, late-night London was drizzly, and she pulled up the hood on her robes as she made her way down the steps. She was headed for the Ministry.

"Anna," Molly called after her.

Anna looked back to see them standing in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Did you happen to see Ginny or Ron, or the twins at Hogwarts...by any chance?"

There was a distinct note of concern in Molly's voice, and Anna remembered what Dumbledore had said about her worrying.

She nodded. "I did, in fact. They were at the Gryffindor table."

Anna didn't feel bad for lying, especially when she saw the relief in Molly's smile.

"If we don't see you before, please stop by for Christmas," Molly said. "We'll all be here."

It was early October now. Christmas still felt a long way away.

Anna nodded briefly, then Disapparated.


	2. October 5th, 1995

Luna Lovegood crossed off October 4th on the Muggle calendar she had bought at the paper shop in Ottery St Catchpole at the beginning of the year. The colour-changing ink of her last remaining quill faded from blue to violet.

_Today will be a good day_ , she thought to herself. It was the weekend, pudding was to be served tonight, and she had been invited to a meeting of Hermione Granger’s, Ronald Weasley’s and Harry Potter’s this morning. Several other students were coming too, Ginny had mentioned yesterday in Charms.

Outside her frosted dormitory window, Luna could glean a wintry sky; silver clouds and whirling snow, a thick clump of it already piled along the sill. It was still early, and her other fourth-year roommates were sleeping in their alcoves. She slid out of hers and into her slippers, fumbling in the drawers beneath her bed for her washbag.

In the Ravenclaw girls’ blue bathroom she combed her blonde hair, attempting to tame it. Then she dressed warmly and headed down to the common-room, wondering if the latest edition of _The Quibbler_ had arrived yet, as it did sometime every Saturday morning, delivered by one of the castle elves. She was one of the only students who read it, no matter how she tried to convince the others to do so. To her delight, Luna found a small bundle of them on the log pile beside the fireplace, and she took a copy as she left Ravenclaw Tower for the Great Hall.

There weren’t many students at breakfast yet, just several Slytherins in Quidditch gear and the Patil twins from Gryffindor. They smiled at her but didn’t say anything, so Luna sat down at the Ravenclaw table and read _The Quibbler’s_ feature. It turned out to be a heart-breaking piece on the impending extinction of the rare Juniper Ocean Sprite, and soon she was sniffling.

_It can still be a good day_ , Luna thought to herself forcibly.

“Luna, are you okay?”

Luna looked up.

Cho Chang was standing on the other side of the table, similarly dressed in a scarf and woolhat, frowning concernedly.

“Yes,” Luna gave a watery smile. “I was just reading about the Juniper Ocean Sprite. They’re headed towards extinction.”

“That’s terrible,” Cho said, taking a seat across from her. “Is there anything that can be done?”

Luna put down the magazine. “There’s a team of magizoologists trying to reverse the destruction of their habitat, but they fear it may be too late.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.”

Luna nodded. “So am I. They’re quite beautiful creatures, and they have such a fascinating mating ritual.”

Cho frowned at that, and Luna sensed she was searching for something to say. Cho leaned in. “Are you going to… _the thing_ , at Hogsmeade today?”

Luna leaned in as well. “Do you mean Harry Potter’s secret meeting?”

Cho glanced quickly over Luna’s shoulder at the Slytherins, but they were talking loudly amongst themselves. “Yeah.”

Luna nodded. “Ginny told me yesterday.”

“I wonder what it’s about?” Cho asked, pouring some cereal into a bowl.

Luna had taken a guess last night after she had overheard Harry scrambling to finish an essay in the library, muttering to himself that Professor Umbridge was giving Gilderoy Lockhart a run for his money as the worst Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Hogwarts had ever seen.

She had giggled aloud to herself (even though she’d rather enjoyed Professor Lockhart’s antics back in her first year) and a group of Gryffindors at a nearby table had glanced over at her and muttered “ _Loony”._

“I think it’s about us learning to defend ourselves,” Luna said now. “Since we aren’t doing so in class.”

Cho’s dark eyes widened. “Like a Defence Against the Dark Arts Club?”

She nodded again.

“That must be forbidden,” Cho murmured worriedly.

Luna picked up a piece of toast. “I think I’d like to hear what Harry has to say.”

Cho blushed faintly and Luna pretended not to notice.

“Shall we walk to Hogsmeade together?” Luna asked her politely.

Cho nodded just as a trio of her fellow sixth-years sat down around them and started chatting, reaching over each other for eggs and sausages.

Luna finished breakfast with them, listening to their funny conversation about potential dates they wanted to take to their Astronomy Club’s Christmas party. They didn’t seem to mind that she was listening, but they didn’t bother to acknowledge her.

“You want to take Harry, don’t you Cho?” Marietta Edgecomb asked impishly. Her round face was caked in makeup.

Cho blushed again, and didn’t reply.

At that moment Harry entered the Great Hall, causing the girls to start giggling. It wasn’t a secret that Cho liked Harry. Lots of people knew, and Luna thought they would suit one another. Cho was kind, always saying hello to her or sitting next to her in the common-room when no one else did. She made you feel less alone.

And Luna knew that Harry Potter was feeling alone.

She remembered that day in September, when Harry had discovered her in the forest with the Thestrals. Not many students – or teachers – at Hogwarts could see them. It was nice to know she shared something in common with Harry, even if it wasn’t particularly cheerful.

“Are you coming, Luna?”

Luna looked up. She had been staring at her cup of tea.

Cho was standing with her hands stuffed in her jumper pockets, her friends already heading down the aisle. “To Hogsmeade?”

Luna left the Great Hall with Cho, now filled with students eating breakfast. Outside in the courtyard the snow had eased, but the winds were still dusty white. She walked with Cho a few paces behind Marietta and the others.

“I need to buy a new quill at Hogsmeade,” Cho said to her.

“Have yours gone missing, too?” Luna asked interestedly.

Cho frowned. “Missing?”

Luna stepped carefully on the icy ground as they walked down to the road that ran into Hogsmeade. “Yes, all but one of my quills have gone missing. I suspect Nargles.”

“Did you try the lost-and-found near Professor McGonagall’s office?”

Luna laughed. “Nargles wouldn’t return my quills. They would hide them.”

Cho smiled awkwardly.

Luna kept giggling all the way into Hogsmeade. _Nargles, returning her quills to lost-and-found._

~~O~~

The secret meeting took place in a cold, low-ceilinged room at the back of the Hog’s Head Tavern on the outskirts of Hogsmeade Village. Luna counted a mixture of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws packed into the room. Twenty, plus Harry, Ron and Hermione. The trio sat in front of the darkened fireplace, looking a bit nervous to be on the receiving end of everyone’s curious gaze.

Luna stood with Cho in the middle of the room, waiting.

When neither Ron nor Harry made a move to initiate things, Hermione stood awkwardly from her chair.

“Um…hi,” she said, looking around the room. “So…you all know why we’re here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who’s had real experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts.”

Luna studied Harry. She could tell he was reluctant to be here.

“Why?” challenged Zacharias Smith.

“Why?” Ron parroted instantly. “Cause You-Know-Who’s back, you tosspot.”

Zacharias frowned and glanced at Harry. “So he says.”

“So Dumbledore says,” Hermione cut in.

“So Dumbledore says because he says. The point is, where’s the proof?”

There was a brief silence and Harry shifted in his seat.

“If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed…” Michael Corner said, sitting in front of Luna.

They all looked to Harry.

“I’m not going to talk about Cedric, so if that’s why you’re here you might as well clear out now,” Harry finally spoke, rising from his chair. He turned to Hermione, muttered, “Come on, Hermione, let’s go. They’re just here cause they all think I’m some sort of freak –”

“Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?” Luna asked.

Now they all looked at her.

Harry seemed hesitant to answer, staring at her with panicked eyes.

Luna waited.

“Yes,” Hermione answered first. “I’ve seen it.”

“Blimey, Harry, I didn’t know you could do that,” Dean Thomas said from his spot next to Neville, who added, “A-And he killed a Basilisk, with the sword in Dumbledore’s office.”

“It’s true,” Ginny confirmed.

Harry was frowning.

“Third year, he fought off about a hundred dementors at once,” Ron grinned.

“And last year, he really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh,” Hermione said.

“Wait,” Harry snapped weakly. “Look…it all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn’t know what I was doing half the time, I nearly always had help.”

“He’s just being modest,” Hermione said.

“No, Hermione, I’m not,” Harry said firmly. He turned to them all. “Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow, but out there…when you’re a second away from being murdered or watching a friend die right before your eyes…you don’t know what that’s like.”

Luna felt a wave of compassion as Harry sat down again. He looked utterly dejected.

“You’re right, Harry, we don’t,” Hermione agreed, sitting down next to him. “That’s why we need your help. Because if we’re going to have any chance of beating… _Voldemort_ …”

“He’s really back?” Colin Creevey asked softly.

Harry nodded, and flicked his eyes up towards her and Cho. 

Luna had always believed him, but it suddenly registered just how _real_ this was. She met his gaze steadfastly, and he held it.

~~O~~

Luna signed her name on the piece of parchment Hermione had sheepishly retrieved from her coat pocket.

_Dumbledore’s Army_ was written in big letters at the top.

“You didn’t say Dumbledore knew about this,” Neville commented, peering over her shoulder.

“He doesn’t,” Ron said. “That’s what we’re calling it. To spite Umbridge.”

Luna handed the quill to Neville.

When everyone had signed, Hermione told them all to keep an ear for a time and place. Luna walked back up to the castle alone (Cho staying behind to shop with her friends) and spent the rest of the day in the library finishing her essay on Nifflers for her Care of Magical Creatures class. At seven-thirty, she entered the Great Hall just as they were serving pudding. She sat down near Ginny, who was digging into a slice of apple tart.

“Hey, Luna. You missed dinner,” Ginny mumbled around a mouthful.

“Oh, I know,” Luna smiled, reaching for a pie cutter. “I just prefer to have pudding.”

Ginny grinned, flicking a strand of red hair from her face. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting a few spaces down. Luna thought Harry was looking in far better spirits this evening. He was laughing at something Hermione was saying to Ron. Ron was scowling.

“So, any ideas what Harry’ll teach us?” Ginny asked quietly to those sitting around her.

“Counter-jinxes,” Neville said.

“Stunning?” Padma guessed.

“The Unforgivable Curses,” Ernie Macmillan joked, suddenly appearing from the Hufflepuff table. “He’s probably an ace.”

Nobody laughed.

There was a pointed cough from down the table. Hermione was frowning at him, and Ron was glaring. Harry’s stare was icy.

“Not funny, Ernie,” Parvati whispered.

Ernie just shrugged and shovelled some blueberry pie into his mouth.

“A Patronus,” Luna said cheerily. Everyone looked at her, but she looked at Harry. “I think we should learn the Patronus charm.”

Harry gave her an awkward nod, as though he would consider it.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. “Of course he’ll teach us the Patronus charm.”

“Is yours corporeal, Harry?” Luna asked, finally deciding on a bread and butter pudding. She pulled the dish towards her.

Harry glanced around, then nodded once. Before anyone could ask what form it took, Professor Umbridge – now Hogwarts High Inquisitor - came parading down the aisle, heels clipping against the stone floor. She paused behind Harry.

“Mister Potter,” she announced in her sugary-sweet chirp.

Harry didn’t bother turning around. “Yes?”

Umbridge grinned widely at the back of his head. “I trust you heard my announcement today?”

Luna saw Harry clenching his dessert spoon, and she once again noticed the bruised scarring on the back of his hand.

“Which one, professor?” Harry asked with an edge.

Umbridge’s smile widened even further. “I think you know which one.”

She examined them all sitting there, then frowned at Neville and Ginny. “Eight inches apart.”

Neville shifted reluctantly down the seat. Umbridge gave them all one last simpering smile, then sauntered off. Everyone grimaced, except Harry, who looked like he wanted to choke something.

“She made me take my earrings out yesterday,” Luna said to Ginny. She had managed to haul her hair up into a large knot for once, and her jewellery had been on display.

Ginny raised her brows. “The radish ones?”

Luna nodded. “Yes. She said that vegetables clashed with my robes.”

Everyone listening chuckled.

“Well, I’d tell her that her kitten brooches clash with her robes, except she doesn’t wear any robes – just that horrid pink dress,” Hermione shuddered.

“And bonnet,” Ron added.

Luna burst out laughing.

“She does wear a bonnet, doesn’t she?” Ginny snorted.

For the second time that day, Luna had a fit of giggles. Everyone around her waited it out with bemused smiles.

“What’s so funny?” Fred appeared, sitting down beside her.

“Yeah, enlighten us,” George added, plonking down across from Ginny.

Ginny swatted away her older brother’s hand as he attempted to steal her goblet of spiced milk. “Umbridge’s clothes.”

The twins grinned instantly.

“Truly inspired fashion,” George sighed wistfully. “Like a hundred year-old grandmother crossed with a chubby baby.”

“Have you been in her office?” Fred asked.

Harry was the one to answer this. “Yes,” he smirked at the twins. “The walls–”

“– are pink,” George interrupted. “And covered with china plates–”

“– filled with kittens,” Fred finished.

Luna was practically choking on her pudding now as she laughed. Padma and Parvati were staring at her worriedly.

“Blimey,” Ron grimaced. “That’s even worse than Lockhart and his portraits.”

Hermione went a shade of pink and looked down at her bowl.

Luna coughed haphazardly and Fred patted her on the back. She swiped at the tears pooling along her lashes. “Are they charmed?”

“Are what charmed, Lovegood?” George asked.

“The china plates?”

“Oh, yeah,” Fred answered. “It’s like a menagerie in there.”

They all laughed again. Luna rather hoped she might get the chance to see Professor Umbridge’s office.

When she finally managed to compose herself, she finished her pudding and listened to the twins deep-dive into an explanation of their Skiving Snackboxes, which she inwardly vowed never to try. Hermione was pretending not to hear them, a disapproving frown furrowing her brow. Ernie and Neville both looked a bit too excited, while Ginny just kept rolling her eyes.

The thought occurred to Luna that these people could be the first real group of friends she had ever had at Hogwarts. For the past three years friends had been fleeting, or come-and-go conveniences. It hadn’t been their fault, or hers. That had just been her luck.

Maybe these ones would last.

She went to bed feeling pleased. _Today was a good day._


End file.
